Over the last few years, laptops have become so thin that any thinner and they might not be practical. For example, at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, Acer displayed the Swift 7 laptop measuring just 9.98mm at the thickest point. Similarly, Apple MacBook is 13.1mm thick. However, honestly, do you really need those blade-like looks? In fact, even a laptop at double the thickness can be almost as practical, and as easy to use, as I found out using the new Asus VivoBook S14.
Weighing just 1.4kg and at a maximum thickness of 18.8mm, the VivoBook S14 actually looks like an ultrabook rather than a notebook. One of the reasons is the NanoEdge display that has a super-thin 7.8mm bezel, which gives the 14-inch screen a maximised display area at an 80% screen-to-body ratio. The sleekness is accentuated by the scratch-resistant metallic grey finish on the body that features the Asus logo on the lid.
A lot of laptops in the market can’t be easily operated in lowlight conditions, but the VivoBook S14 has a practical feature—it’s got a backlit keyboard with 1.4mm of travel, which ensures a comfortable and any time typing experience. The company says that the touchpad supports Windows Precision Touchpad standards, so it delivers smooth tracking, writing and even multiple gesture recognition.
Mention must be made of the neatness in design—for example, the power button, which is usually on top left or right side of the keyboard, has been integrated as part of the keyboard, giving the entire area a uniform appearance. In addition, the keyboard is placed in a shallow depression that not only looks good, but also improves typing comfort and accuracy. For security, there is an integrated touchpad fingerprint sensor.
The VivoBook S14 is available in three configurations (Intel Core i7, i5 and i3), and the one I used (S410UA) is powered by the 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, with up to 8GB DDR4 RAM—this model, in particular, is a master at multitasking performance. It also features up to a 256GB SATA M.2 SSD for super-fast data access speeds.
Multimedia experience is enhanced by technologies such as Asus Splendid (delivers vivid images and better contrast, brightness, skin tones and colour saturation) and Asus Tru2Life Video (a kind of image processing engine that sharpens photos, videos and even text).
There are four display modes: Normal for day-to-day tasks, Vivid that optimises contrast; Eye Care that reduces blue light levels and protects eyes during extended hours of usage; and Manual that allows for personalised colour adjustments.
For its compact size, the audio experience is very good. The reason is the two side-firing speakers, powered by Asus SonicMaster audio technology, which has been co-developed with the world-famous sound experts Bang & Olufsen ICEpower. Further, the Asus AudioWizard app allows users to set their own custom equaliser by varying individual frequency bands. For making the most of this technology, however, you perhaps need to understand the finer nuances of music.
As far as connectivity options are concerned, the VivoBook S14 gets the USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C port that supports data transfers up to 10 times faster than the standard USB 2.0, along with a micro HDMI port and a microSD card slot.
Its battery has a claimed eight hours of life on a full charge. While I didn’t use it constantly for eight hours, the claim sounds correct because, on intermittent usage ranging from a few minutes to a couple of hours, I could run the laptop without charging for three days, including watching a movie or two.
More importantly, Asus claims that the VivoBook S14 has a battery that has over 900 charge cycles compared to 300 cycles for a conventional notebook’s battery. That means you can save on battery replacement costs in the long run. For on-the-go usage, its battery can be rapidly charged from empty to 60% capacity in a claimed 49 minutes.
The Asus VivoBook S14 comes across as a 14-inch laptop with a 13-inch compact form factor. It’s not blade-like, yet it’s lightweight and portable enough to be carried all day in a backpack. It’s not really a powerhouse of a computer, yet versatile enough for daily tasks and more.
The best thing is that there are three configurations to choose from, according to usage patterns. The i3 (8GB, 1TB+128GB SSD) model for Rs 54,990; the i5 (8GB, 1TB+128 GB SSD) for `64,990; and the i7 (8GB, 1TB+256 GB SSD) for Rs77,990.
